X-Men: Children of the Atom
'' X-Men: Children of the Atom'' is an arcade game that was produced by Capcom and released on the CPS-2 arcade system in 1994. It is the first fighting game produced by Capcom using characters under license from Marvel Comics, and is widely praised for its faithfulness in capturing the spirit of its namesake comics, by using colorful animation and voice actors from the X-Men animated series, such as Cathal Dodd as Wolverine. Gameplay The ultimate object of the game is to defeat the mutant supervillain Magneto, who wishes to eliminate the human population from his space station Avalon in order to free the oppressed mutants. The player selects from members of the X-Men (Cyclops, Psylocke, Wolverine, Storm, Colossus and Iceman), who have set up a fighting tournament to determine who is strong enough to challenge Magneto in battle. Unlike previous X-Men video games, Children of the Atom also allows players to helm popular X-Men villains who want their own personal gains from defeating Magneto; such as Omega Red, the mutant hunting android Sentinel, Spiral (lackey of Mojo), and Silver Samurai. Juggernaut is also included as a sub-boss and a lackey of Magneto. This game was released shortly after Super Street Fighter II Turbo, the game that introduced the world to Akuma. As an in-joke to Super Turbo's Japanese title (Super Street Fighter II X), Akuma is included as a secret character and the secret final boss. The sub-boss and main boss, Juggernaut and Magneto, respectively, are not selectable in the arcade version of the game, but are selectable in the PC version. The game, along with SSFII Turbo, is considered one of the first fighting games to popularize the now often-used ideas of super jumps, super combos, and Tech. Hit, which means that an attempted grab or throw can be negated by the opponent. However, a player must have at least a Level 2 Gauge (about half the total bar), and while some characters simply land on their feet or recover in mid-air (like Wolverine or Omega Red), other characters escape the throw entirely and a select few can even reverse the grapple (like Iceman). Furthermore, the game, along with it's sequel, Marvel Super Heroes, was the precursor to the Marvel vs. Capcom series, with elements and characters from this game having been combined with Street Fighter Alpha to create X-Men vs. Street Fighter. Ports of Children of the Atom were later released to Sega Saturn in 1995, PC in 1997, and PlayStation in 1998. Characters X-Men * Colossus is the slowest, but strongest X-Men member. His attacks involve pummeling the opponent and taking advantage of his metal skin. His stage is a city under siege by Sentinels. His stage is unique because the floor can break up to 3 times, caused by a hard fall by an airborne character. * Cyclops relies mainly on his optic blasts. He has a great amount of agility and has an uppercut move. His stage is the Danger Room. In the background of the stage, traps such as spikes appear, although these will not damage the player in any way. * Iceman attacks his enemies with ice beams or ice balls. An interesting point is that he takes zero chipping damage when blocking a projectile attack. His stage is an ice floe floating across a tropical beach. Characters will slide while standing still on the ice, making his stage slightly difficult to keep balance on. * Psylocke, utilizes both Ninjutsu attacks and psionic blasts, with equal ease and speed. She also employs illusions, enabling sneak attacks. Her stage is an elevator moving around a skyscraper. This stage is somewhat similar to her stage in the game's sequel. * Storm is the only X-Men member who can fly and mainly attacks with wind, ice and lightning-based attacks. Her stage is on top of the Blackbird. * Wolverine has moves related to his powerful brawling and clawing skills. He has great agility and can also heal part of his damage. His stage is the Savage Land. Villains * Omega Red mostly makes use of his tentacles, draining either the life- or X-energy or whipping them at the player. His stage is an undersea laboratory. * Sentinel is the largest regular character. He is slow and awkward, but features a vast array of intimidating short- and long-range weaponry, and extremely powerful blows — Sentinel's normal moves inflict guard damage to blocking opponents. His stage is a Sentinel factory in Genosha. Master Mold, who is in the background, will either fly off or be destroyed depending on whether or not Sentinel wins. * Silver Samurai features an array of Kendo strikes and throwing stars. He can also use his mutant abilities to energize his sword in a vast array of ways. His stage is a Kodokan. * Spiral uses her long, powerful six arms. She is a great grappler, and can teleport at will. Her stage is Mojo world. Like in Colossus' stage, the floor can break multiple times. Bosses * Juggernaut is the first boss character which the player encounters after defeating six opponents. He is a slow, but very powerful character with huge range. Three blows dispose of almost any character. Not only is he extremely powerful, but it takes multiple hits to put him on the floor. He has a special armor that prevents him from being tripped or pushed back that is powered up even more by his Crimson Gem of Cyttorak power-up ability. His stage is a space ship launching bay. He is also arguably the first character in fighting games to use in-stage objects as weapons (the I-beams in the foreground). * Magneto is the final boss. He is capable of flight and is immensely powerful. In addition, his super bar fills automatically. As expected, his attacks are mainly revolved around his mastery of magnetism and electromagnetism. One ability allows him to manipulate ship fragments from the Blackbird, which is never seen in a later game. Another creates an invulnerable magnetic shield around him that protects him from virtually any attack; Magneto normally uses this attack when his health is low. His stage is Avalon, his space station. It is arguably the most spectacular stage of the whole game, featuring lush graphics, state-of-the-art 2D animation and fluid changes between different parts of the space station. Secret Character * Akuma is very similar to his SSFII Turbo incarnation. His stage is the Danger Room. He is selectable via a code at the character select screen. Gallery Portrait_XMCOTA_Colossus.png Portrait_XMCOTA_Cyclops.png Portrait_XMCOTA_Iceman.png Portrait_XMCOTA_Wolverine.png Portrait_XMCOTA_Psylocke.png Portrait_XMCOTA_Storm.png Portrait_XMCOTA_Sentinel.png Portrait_XMCOTA_Silver_Samurai.png Portrait_XMCOTA_Spiral.png Category:Games